Normal Amount Of Panting After Excercise?

[Guest lulafortune]

Enzo frequently jogs with me and the distance ranges from 1 to 3.5 miles max. I allow him to stop to pee and poo whenever he wants (and he takes advanatge at least 10-15 times throughout) so its not straight through jogging and its pretty slow paced. It was a little hotter than it has been lately yesterday, probably 75-80 degrees, and we did 2.8 miles. When we got back he was panting very hard and fast paced for about 15 minutes. I placed cool rags on him and he was completly fine after he recovered but it still scared me a little. I'm also a new dog owner so I may be overreacting. He did 3.3 miles over the weekend in cool weather and was totally fine.

 

What kind of panting/cool down is normal after excercise?

[macoduck]

Some greyhounds are OK with running that distance. My own won't go further than a walk around the block.

Some dogs may go into crisis from overexertion, so please read this:

http://www.gcnm.org/heatstroke.html

[Guest BiancasMom]

I think 75-80 is way too hot for a Greyhound to jog. Even with frequent breaks, they don't cool quickly like other breeds. Sounds like he may have been on the verge of heat stroke. I would either change the time of day you are running or not take him with you when it is that warm out. My grey seems to overheat when we only walk at that temperature. I used to take her with me running (3 miles) but one day she statued and I thought she was ill or something. Turns out when we went back in the direction of my car, she was fine. She just didn't want to run, lol. She stays home now and I walk her on my cool down.

[a_daerr]

Fifteen minutes of hard panting doesn't sound terrible. You know your dog best. If he likes running and seems otherwise okay, I would try to condition him to the warmer weather by doing shorter distances and working your way up. They also make cooling vests and cooling bandanas to help dogs cool down after being out in the heat. Depending on his age and endurance, 80 degrees may be too much, though. Neither of my guys would run in 80 degree weather (they'll barely walk in it).

[greysmom]

Normal panting after exercise can vary from dog to dog, depending on a lot of factors. Of my four, given the same amount of yard exercise, one hardly pants at all, two pant for about 15 minutes or so, one will pant for almost 45 minutes. This will be hard, steam-engine-type panting. All will drink a lot of water following exercise. None of them have any of the risk factors mentioned in the above linked article and are in good, retired racer shape.

 

Some greys love the warm weather and some just don't do well. You need to evaluate your dog to see if the heat is too much for him to exercise. Fortunately, most also become even more lazy as it gets hotter, so the need for exercise decreases, too.

 

BTW, my 45-minute-panter LOVES to completely submerge herself in a wading pool after hard playing, and that seems to help her cool down. She'll lay down in water up to her ears and loves to be sprayed with the hose!

[TheFullHouse]

I think temperature has more impact than distance to be honest. My greyhounds don't tolerate heat well and even a good run in the yard leaves them panting for a bit when they come in to the air conditioned house. Chris had a good suggestion, a wading pool is great for cooling them down quickly. To be honest, I'm not sure I would run a greyhound that long in the heat. They don't tolerate extreme heat or cold well. You might try getting a cool down jacket and putting it on when the temperatures are above 70 and see if that helps.

[JohnF]

Peggy won't do that distance and pace in anything over about 65F either without getting stress panting.

She LOVES those darned cold months, October through April here, too much. Some of them don't have an efficient cooling menchanism I guess, kind of like a car with a gummed up radiator.

[muddgirl]

15 minutes of panting doesn't seem that worrysome to me, especially if he is up and walking, but it was definitely a good idea to put some wet towels on him - we will sometimes do this after a hotter walk (but hypothermia can also be an issue with greys). My dogs will pant for up to 30-45 minutes after a walk on a hotter day - but we are careful to monitor them to make sure they are cooling off and drinking water.

 

I know many greyhound owners are very careful of heat exhaustion/ heat stroke, but here in South Texas we simply can't avoid letting them outside in high temperatures. Heck, my dogs regularly exercise in 78 degree temperatures, as that is what we keep our house cooled to in the summer.

 

Can you bring a portable water bowl and some water for him to drink on the walk? That might help quite a bit with temperature regulation.

 

Edited to add: if you are really worried, you can take their rectal temperature. That seems like the clearest way to determine if they're in heat stroke territory - their base temperature should be around 99-100 degrees. Signs of over-heating would be temps over 104.

Edited April 9, 2013 by muddgirl

[Guest lulafortune]

Thanks for all your input! I think I will try to keep the jogs to a minimum in the hotter weather. Its hot again today and we just went for a regular old one mile walk and he is now panting again the same way although he stopped after about 5 minutes this time. I appreciate everyone's replies.

[3greytjoys]

I agree that temperature is too hot to run Greyhounds for an extended period. If he hasn't been retired long, good to remember that Greyhounds are short distance sprinters whose races only last 30 seconds (approx. twice a week). Their endurance is very low. Glad you're planning to avoid exercising him when too warm outside.

 

Also, Greyhounds arrive into retirement with soft paw pads. Pads will slowly begin to toughen with short walks during cooler temperatures (on cool sidewalks). Paw pads can easily be rubbed painfully raw if starting with too long and frequent walks. Pads can be burned raw from hot cement/pavement. Good to check paw pads periodically.

 

Good links posted above. I second the thermometer suggestion. I believe a dogs normal temp is roughly 101.5. If dog overheats, good to begin hosing down their paws and inside legs to help them cool gradually.

 

Our own hounds begin showing show heat stress when walking above about 72 degrees.

 

Just curious about Enzo's age?

 

ETA: We schedule walks in early morning or late evening during warm weather months for our younger Greyhounds. We also have two Greyhounds with laryngeal paralysis (partially paralyzed throat flaps - limits oxygen intake), so their brief walk is limited to dawn or after nightfall. If they get too warm, their panting becomes very heavy and loud (sounds like a freight train, lasting much longer than the younger hounds). Our two LP hounds are no longer allowed to run.

Edited April 11, 2013 by 3greytjoys

[Guest 2greys2cats]

 

Thanks for all your input! I think I will try to keep the jogs to a minimum in the hotter weather. Its hot again today and we just went for a regular old one mile walk and he is now panting again the same way although he stopped after about 5 minutes this time. I appreciate everyone's replies.

I think you received some great feedback and suggestions. My opinion is that is too hot to run a greyhound. If you do run him, please allow him to drink water throughout the run to cool down. However that can be tricky because too much water while exercising can be lethal. In my opinion a short walk or romp in the yard Should be plenty in really warm weather.

Edited April 11, 2013 by 2greys2cats

[Guest lulafortune]

Enzo is 3-1/2 years old and has a lot of energy. I have built him up to that length over the last 6 months starting with simple walks around our block so his pads should be good to handle that. Once the hot weather is here for the summer I am going to adjust his walking schedule to be later in the evening when its a bit cooler.

 

Thanks for the advice!